


Another Option

by feelsandbooksandshit



Series: Suzao Canon Divergence [2]
Category: Original Work
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-17
Updated: 2020-04-17
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:47:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23705605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/feelsandbooksandshit/pseuds/feelsandbooksandshit
Summary: [She thought she'd broke through her walls, at least a little bit. She thought they were friends. Maybe...But she must've been wrong. And her misjudgment must be the reason she has a hole in her back.]"A Change of Heart" but Mao got the bad ending.
Series: Suzao Canon Divergence [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1816708
Comments: 1
Kudos: 1





	Another Option

Blue mixes with red to make purple, right?

Of course, the water isn't actually blue, is it? It's just the light reflecting. Mao knows that.

It doesn't stop her from wishing the pool would turn purple instead.

The red drops fall, leaving a trail as it slowly falls to the bottom of the pool. Maybe once she escapes, she'll look back at the pool and it'll be pink. It's not as pretty as purple, but it's better than red.

Red is harsh. As it spreads and pollutes the area around her, she can barely stand looking at it. These last few days, weeks even, have been covered in blood.

Bloodshed that she had promised to end.

Pink would be nice. The softer alternative. It's what she hopes to see once she leaves the water. Not red. Not fresh. Pink would be the proof of her struggle, and proof that she escaped.

And once she is safe, she'll save Basil too.

It'll be hard, but Mao has to stop her.

She knows the culprit, of course she does. Mao's arms were _around her_ as she had felt something sharp in her back.

Somehow, the feeling of the knife being pulled out was worse than the stab.

The warmth of the culprit was pulled away, but the pain was burning hot. Mao had tried to reach out, but her hands shook too much to grab the culprit as she walked around her.

"Why?" Mao had asked, shuddering as she blinked tears out of her eyes. The culprit didn't respond. With a push, Mao had fallen from the pool edge.

She wonders if Suzui feels guilty.

Maybe Mao had just been imagining their connection. She thought she'd broke through her walls, at least a little bit. She thought they were friends. Maybe...

But she must've been wrong. And her misjudgment must be the reason she has a hole in her back.

As she reflects, she wonders if the blood from the wound turned her sweater brown. Brown is nice. It's grounding. The red blood flowing from the green sweater is like a rose blooming from the dirt.

Mao imagines herself as a plant in another life, her roots bursting through the brown soil. Maybe she would be a pretty flower. Forget-me-nots. Maybe if she considers the chlorinated water as rain falling on the petals, it'll hurt less to breathe.

But flooding a plant kills it just like dehydrating it does.

At least the strain on her lungs makes her almost forget her injury.

And _God_ are they strained.

When she opens her mouth to find some kind of relief, water flows into her lungs and air floats out. Bubbles cover her view of the spreading blood for only a moment before they too turn red. The bubbles from her last gasps of air that she's desperately trying to keep in obscure her vision.

But she can't close her eyes.

She thinks maybe keeping her eyes open in the pool water for so long should hurt. She can't tell if it does. Even if it did, that wouldn't stop her anyway.

She's scared.

If she closes her eyes, there's nothing left. She'll fade into the darkness.

As long as she sees the lights, sees the bubbles, sees the blood, she's here.

She's alive.

The next time she closes her eyes could be her last. She can't let that happen.

Mao has always praised hope. To her, it's the most important thing to have. Without hope, there's nothing to keep someone going. There's _never_ a point in life where there's only _one_ option. Just like with the victims and the executions, she believes there's an alternative to dying here. There is a way out.

Even if she can't kick to the surface, even if she is bleeding with no sign of stopping, she can see right now and that means it's not over.

She has a chance.

She has to have some kind of chance.

All she has to do is resist and _keep her eyes open._

But it's getting harder and harder.

The bubbles that covered her view stop.

She tries to breathe, she tries so hard, but there's nothing there. There's no air.

There's nothing she can do.

The numbness has started spreading already and the breath has left her body. There are only two options: Bleed out, or suffocate.

_No._

There has to be a way.

She tries wiggling her toes to prove she has life left. She can't tell if they moved. She chooses to believe they did.

Water keeps filling her lungs and she can't feel her legs even as she tries to kick them. Still, that doesn't mean they're useless. It can't.

Is there even air that she can get to?

She tries to turn her eyes up to check the surface, but her body can't find the energy. As much as her brain screams, demanding that she fights, there's no power left.

She _has_ to be close to breaking through the water at this point. She just has to _move_. Just hold on. Keep her eyes open. Stay alive.

Her eyes blink for a moment.

Just a single moment of darkness before she somehow forces them back open.

But that moment sends terror in her soul. It's blank and black. That's what she'll fade away into if she doesn't fight.

She can't die.

She won't.

But even her brain is turning hazy now.

She must've only been in the water for a few minutes, maybe even seconds, but it felt like years.

It was finally setting in.

Whether it was the blood loss or the lack of oxygen, she felt it.

The futility of fighting.

A small part of her brain ignored that feeling.

It pleaded with her to wake up from this numbness.

With each second, that part got smaller.

She only mildly noticed the fact that her entire body went numb.

Her brain and eyes were the only things left awake.

And her eyes begged to finally close.

And they did.


End file.
